


hope i never lose you (hope it never ends)

by ifthebookdoesntsell



Category: Mean Girls - Richmond/Benjamin/Fey
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, Marriage, Song: Cornelia Street (Taylor Swift), first I love yous
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:48:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27950264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifthebookdoesntsell/pseuds/ifthebookdoesntsell
Summary: Before Regina, Janis walked Cornelia Street hundreds of times and never thought much of it.It’s the route she takes every day to get to work, and the one that leads to her favorite coffee shop too. The air is always fresh after getting off the subway, clean and crisp, especially early in the morning. Still, it never seemed like anything special.That all changes when she walks Regina home after their first date.(Or, the one where all of Janis’ life-defining moments happen on one street.)
Relationships: Regina George/Janis Sarkisian
Comments: 8
Kudos: 25





	hope i never lose you (hope it never ends)

**Author's Note:**

> hey y'all, back at ya with another fic. this is technically a gift for my #1 homie, si. i hope this made a tough few days better. i love you, buddy. 
> 
> of course, this fic is based on cornelia street by taylor swift. if you haven't at least glanced at the lyrics, i do recommend doing so before you read the fic. it'll make things easier to understand! and, if you want to listen to it while you read, then i'll just say that the version i listened to for this was the live in paris version (which, imo, is the superior version lmao). 
> 
> anyway, all of this is to say i hope y'all enjoy, and i hope you're staying safe leading up to the holidays.

_one._

Before Regina, Janis walked Cornelia Street hundreds of times and never thought much of it. 

It’s the route she takes every day to get to work, and the one that leads to her favorite coffee shop too. The air is always fresh after getting off the subway, clean and crisp, especially early in the morning. Still, it never seemed like anything special. 

That all changes when she walks Regina home after their first date. 

Regina holds her hand all the way back to her apartment, telling Janis about her work, about her favorite band that she saw at a local show the other week, about everything and nothing at the same time. 

Janis listens, for the first time uncaring of the fact that she’s being touched, that her hand might be sweaty, or that her calluses are too rough. She feels herself sinking steadily into this feeling of being wanted, being seen, being known, and she likes it. 

She’s never liked it before. 

They walk the length of Cornelia Street until they reach Regina’s apartment, both regretful that the night is coming to an end. They linger on the steps for a moment, just looking at each other, and when Janis finally leans down to kiss the blonde goodnight, for a moment, everything feels perfect. 

Regina walks backwards up the steps to the door just so she can stare at her date a little longer, smiling all the way, and it’s only when she shuts the door that Janis walks back toward the subway stop that she’s so familiar with, already aware that it’s a journey that she should get used to, already aware that her life has just changed.

***

_two._

When they finally get to the front door, Janis kisses Regina once at the door. 

Again. 

A third time. 

She can’t seem to let her go. 

It’s eight o’clock on a Sunday after a countless number of dates, after waiting to be ready, after wanting to do things right. 

“Come upstairs,” Regina gasps into her mouth, hands gripping at the back of her jacket and pulling her closer. “I can’t wait anymore.” 

Janis nods, and they barely make it through the door before she has her pinned to the wall in the front entryway, lips on her neck. She hears Regina giggle, feels her tremble when she murmurs, “You’re so beautiful.” 

Regina drags her to the bedroom after that, makes a fool of her when starts to pull her clothes off, smiles shyly when Janis can’t seem to take her eyes off of her. 

“Gorgeous,” she breathes out, pressing the blonde into the sheets, and weirdly, it feels like coming home. “So fucking gorgeous, baby.” 

***

The next morning, Janis has somebody to walk to the coffee shop with. The silence is easy between them as they wait for the light to change at the crosswalk. Regina kisses her cheek, whispers that she wants to pay for their coffee.

Janis watches the _Cornelia St._ sign glimmer faintly in the sun, and she has the stray thought that she never wants to lose this feeling. 

***

_three._

The third time Janis’ life changes on Cornelia Street, she actually feels her world shift on its axis.

It’s been six months strong for her and Regina-- six months of kissing each other goodnight and greeting each other good morning, six months of falling so steadily, so readily for the first time in their lives, six months of learning to pray to whoever’s listening that this is their forever-- and she isn’t quite sure what’s happening when the blonde stops in the middle of the normal stroll back to her apartment. 

“What?” she asks softly, smiling when Regina looks up at her with a new kind of softness and sureness in her baby blue eyes. 

“I just want to look at you,” the blonde mumbles. The night has started to awaken, buildings lit up from the ground floor all the way to the topmost floor, several of Regina’s neighbors clicking on their lamps to accommodate the semi-darkness that comes after an early sunset in the city. 

“I’m sure you could look at me a lot better in your apartment,” Janis flirts, kissing her nose softly. 

“Maybe you’re right,” Regina answers, suddenly shy as she looks away, a blush evident on her cheeks. 

Janis notices, her brow furrowing slightly. 

“Hey,” she says, turning Regina’s face toward her with a gentle hand on her cheek. “What is it? Are you okay?”

The blonde nods, looking back at her timidly. “I just realized something while we were walking, and I think it’s important enough for me to stop and tell you.”

There’s silence between them. Janis feels her heart pumping faster as she tries to think of what it could be. Maybe it’s something bad, or maybe she did something wrong--

“I love you.” Regina interrupts her thoughts. “I realized because you were asking about work! And I know you don’t know anything about finance really, but you still ask me. And then I was thinking about how you’re the best part of my day, and how I always look to see if you’re next to me or that you texted good morning.” Janis still hasn’t said anything, too shocked to even form words. Blue eyes widen. “Oh God. I made it weird, didn’t I? I made it weird, and we had a good night and--”

“I love you too,” Janis blurts out. 

They stare at each other some more. 

Regina bites her lip. 

“You do?” 

Janis nods. She doesn’t know how to tell Regina that maybe she’s loved her since the moment she saw her, that the second they spoke it was impossible to tell if she knew her for twenty seconds or twenty years. She doesn’t know how to tell her that she’s the best part of her day too, that she knows Regina’s always liked shiny things and that it means so much that she’s liked her-- maybe loved her-- even when she’s been dull and burnt out. She doesn’t know how to tell her that the very mention of Cornelia Street makes her smile, now, that she’ll sometimes get off a stop early just so she can walk by Regina’s place even if she knows she isn’t there. 

So, she just nods in reply instead. 

“I do. I love you.” 

The blonde smiles. It makes Janis’ whole world light up. She’s not sure that it will ever grow dark again. She doesn’t mind a single bit. 

“Good.” Regina blushes hard. “Good.”

Janis grins at her, teasing, “Good?” 

The woman presses up onto her toes, wrapping her arms loosely around her girlfriend’s neck to pull her into a kiss. Janis feels like everything is spinning out of control. She holds Regina around the hips to get her balance. 

A confirmation is breathed into her mouth, and she kisses back ardently, lovingly, _giddy_ that she can think that just about anything she does with Regina now can be described as such. 

***

_four._

Janis never thought she would be here. It was never on her bucket list to get married. 

And yet-- 

“Let’s get married,” her blonde whispers against her neck, several weeks after she’d gotten down on one knee and asked the blonde to do exactly that. 

“We are,” Janis answers, kissing the top of her head. “Remember? We’re going back home and all of our friends are going to be there.” 

“I mean now,” Regina mumbles. “Without everybody. Just you and me.” 

Janis sits up. “Where’s my fiancée?” 

Regina rolls her eyes. “She’s right here. She just can’t stand being your fiancée anymore.”

“Ouch,” the brunette answers, pretending to be offended. 

“Not what I meant,” Regina chides. “And you know it.” Her eyes grow soft, focusing on Janis in the semidarkness. “I don’t want to wait anymore! And I know it sounds a little silly, but we can still have the ceremony! We can do all of the things our parents want, but is it so wrong to want to have a little time just for us first?” 

Janis finds herself agreeing to it before she can even compute all the reasons that maybe they shouldn’t. 

Which is how they end up on the sidewalk right in front of their apartment-- it’s their apartment now, not Regina’s, with a locally ordained minister-- saying their vows. 

They’d decided to pick somewhere meaningful, quick, and quaint, and in the end, there was no better place than the sidewalk where they shared most all of their firsts. 

It’s only fitting they add one more to the list. 

“You may kiss your bride,” the minister says kindly, shutting his book, and when Janis surges forward and sweeps Regina into her arms to kiss her, she giddily wonders if Cornelia Street has some sort of magic to it. 

Regina kisses her harder, and their neighbors, who participated as their witnesses, all cheer on happily, seemingly under the spell of the street as well. Janis smiles into it, heart pumping quick and rough in her chest at how safe she feels with sidewalk under her feet, lips pressed against hers. She could live in this moment forever, finds herself searching her memory for all of the brilliant little moments she’s had with Regina on this pavement, in her apartment that seems to carry the enchantment of this little Greenwich Village spot all the way past its doors. 

She thinks of barefoot mornings in the kitchen with Regina, how sacred those beginnings are each day, what it is to have a woman, so gorgeous and wonderful, sleepy and safe in her arms. 

Her grip tightens around Regina’s waist as she dips her, opens her eyes quickly to glance up at the street sign, this time happily married and in love.

She knows she’ll be walking on this concrete for the rest of her life, knows that sign-- with its matching traffic lights-- will watch over her, will point her home when it's dark. 

She knows that this is a feeling she could never bear to lose. 

And somehow, someway, she also knows she won’t. She knows this will never end. 

And absolutely nothing makes her happier than that thought. 

**Author's Note:**

> so.... what did we think? if you enjoyed, consider dropping me a comment/kudo down below. it would really make me smile. 
> 
> as always, i'm @ifthebookdoesntsell on tumblr. my askbox is always open for whatever is on your mind. 
> 
> be safe x


End file.
